Her Song
by kaiedou
Summary: Done for the T&B Anon meme: The guitar itself was one of Kotetsu's most treasured possessions; a gift from his late wife Tomoe. Something he treasured with every fiber of his being.


**LiveJournal Prompt:** Anon requested fic of Kotetsu playing the guitar that he's seen with on the OST cover. Someone must discover him playing it, as it was being kept a secret.

**Note:** Tiger and Bunny does not belong to me unfortunately.

A light note lifted and echoed through the silence as the copper wire guitar string was plucked skillfully by the older brunette man lounging on his living room couch. More notes continued to follow their predecessor as they were woven into an airy, light-hearted tune, filling the room with their jovial sound seemingly carried by the light breeze blowing through the open living room window.

Kaburagi T. Kotetsu never had much time to himself anymore, what with his life being as unyielding as it was. If he wasn't off saving the lives of Sternbild's innocent and upstanding citizens from certain and imminent doom, then he was most likely capturing hard-headed criminals in the name justice. Well, justice and the ratings sake of Hero TV otherwise he was pretty sure Agnes would throttle him…but mostly for justice!

Now that he was getting on in his older years, Kotetsu had taken to enjoying the more simple things in life whenever the opportunity presented itself, as long as it didn't interfere with his work. Crime had been near an all-time low lately and this meant a little bit of much needed and well deserved R&R for all of Sternbild's resident Heroes.

As for Kotetsu, it meant something a little more pleasing. It meant he finally got some quality time with his secret guilty pleasure; his beloved acoustic guitar. The guitar itself was one of Kotetsu's most treasured possessions; a gift from his late wife Tomoe. Something he treasured with every fiber of his being.

The amber eyed man gently rocked his head from side to side as he rest it on the arm of his couch and continued to strum the little tune which was growing increasingly complex the deeper his thought process went. Every time he played, he thought of her and a smile would creep up on his face as his hands flowed up and down the sleek, dark blue instrument. He could recall with perfect clarity how as a teenager, he had attempted to learn to play in order to try and impress the beautiful young Tomoe. It wasn't necessary however; he had completely swept her off her feet the moment they met…though the added effort had been greatly appreciated, even if it was torture listening to Kotetsu play in the beginning. Tomoe swore up and down that it sounded very much like an ostrich being beaten to death with baseball bat, though she'd never admit that to her elated admirer.

"I've gotten pretty good since then, haven't I Tomoe?" Kotetsu chuckled to himself as he strummed a little softer.

A gentle smile spread across old Tiger's lips as his memory shifted along with the song and he was embraced by the ever comforting memory of Tomoe's heartwarming smile as she handed him the expensive looking midnight-blue guitar. "_I think you've gotten good enough for it!" _she had said. He had instantly sat down after taking it and began to play her an airy, light-hearted tune. One very much like the one he was playing now actually…

Suddenly, an affectionate sounding laugh came from somewhere behind the lounging man, completely startling him. The music abruptly stopped as Kotetsu bolted upright into a sitting position before hunching protectively over the little instrument in a half-hearted attempt to hide it and turned his head to see who was at his window.

Standing there, elbow propped against the windowsill, head resting in hand, was none other than Kotetsu's trusted partner in crime…or heroism rather…Barnaby Brooks Jr. He wore a sly smirk on his face that told the older brunette that he very well knew what he had been doing and had no doubt heard a lot more than Kotetsu wanted to believe he did.

"Eh? Bunny-chan, you know it's rude to spy on people!" Kotetsu whined to the young blonde, shaking an angry fist at him in protest to his presence.

Bunny chuckled to himself as he straightened up and gazed at Kotetsu in earnest with his deep-set emerald green eyes, sly smirk still in place.

"And it's rude to keep secrets from your friends, old man." He said touching the rims of his glasses absentmindedly. "May I come in?"

Kotetsu grumbled something dismissive and unintelligible under his breath before waving his hand, motioning for Barnaby to enter.

Barnaby shut the front door quietly behind him as he entered the room and sat at the opposite end of the couch on which his partner was also seated. Kotetsu rearranged himself so that he was shoved as far up against his arm of the couch as possible, clinging to the little blue guitar in his lap. He looked down at it, cheeks glowing bright red and looking awfully embarrassed. For some reason, he felt as though he had just been caught doing something far worse than what he actually had been.

"So Kotetsu," Bunny began, "how come you never told me you could play?"

The amber eyed man looked up to meet his gaze slightly embarrassed, yet surprised at the question and the soft tone that the blonde had used to ask it.

"I dunno, no one ever asked," he replied.

Barnaby couldn't help but laugh.

"True, but I would think someone like you who isn't afraid of anything wouldn't care much to hide something as minuet as this," the blonde stated. "Quite the opposite actually, I would have figured you'd have liked to entertain people with this little skill. Maybe go play in old folk's home or something? I'm sure they'd love the great Wild Tiger to come and play them a nice song or two before nap time. Speaking of nap time, preschool shows could be a real hit too! Maybe we should tell Agnes…"

The older man couldn't help but glare daggers at his younger partner for poking fun at him. The thing that irked him most though was that he couldn't tell if Bunny was being serious or not.

Kotetsu studied the emerald green eyed man for a moment before relenting to his annoyance. It didn't matter if Bunny was trying to get under his skin on purpose or not, at least he was showing signs of having an actually personality these days. It was better than an emotionally devoid automaton that's sole purpose in life was collecting fictional points for a reality TV show. Kotetsu decided secretly right then and there that he would be more careful what he wished for in the future.

"I'll have you know, Bunny-chan, that I'm actually pretty far above preschool level performances," Kotetsu retorted with a cheshire cat grin spread across his face.

"I know, I was listening…you're actually surprisingly good." Barnaby said, causing the older man to blush slightly and scratch the back of his head in mild embarrassment. "I was actually going to ask you if you would like to play for me a little more."

Kotetsu's hand dropped from his head to rest gently along the curve of the guitar's sleek frame and stare at Bunny in bewilderment.

"S-seriously?" he asked unsure if this was another joke or not. He just really could not tell with Bunny these days! He was getting good at this…too good…

The blonde nodded in response.

"Play the one that you were playing before," he said. "I liked it. It was very…soothing."

Kotetsu looked down at his guitar, questioning if it was okay to willingly allow someone else to hear _her _song. He sees his wedding ring reflect the afternoon light onto the lacquered wood of her precious gift. Yes…he can feel the answer in the back of his head; feel it in his heart. _It's okay. _An understanding smile spreads across the amber eyed man's face as his hands - worn from age and a life of protecting everything that's important to him - wander up and down the familiar instrument producing an airy, light-hearted tune with a little added extra something for his captivated audience of two.


End file.
